Hundreds of fans are duped over Tennant's West End debut

Acclaimed: David Tennant’s much anticipated transfer to London in Hamlet opens on Wednesday but it is not clear how many fans may be disappointed after buying counterfeit tickets for the production at the Novello Theatre

A gang of counterfeiters has struck a West End production of Hamlet staring David Tennant, in what is believed to be the first attack of its kind.

Hundreds of tickets for the eagerly anticipated show are feared to have been forged in a highly sophisticated sting. The Met has been called to investigate after a number of expertly copied tickets were presented at the box office of the Novello Theatre last week.

David Tennant begins his month-long run on Wednesday, reprising his acclaimed performance as the troubled Dane. The production has already proved a sellout for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. No one knows how many fake tickets could be in circulation for what is seen as the hottest event in theatre this year.

Industry experts today said it was the first time they were aware counterfeiters had targeted a West End show. The gang forged tickets issued by Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, which runs the Novello theatre.

The company has had to re-issue thousands of tickets to avoid chaos in the auditorium. Delfont Mackintosh buyers will be asked to present their tickets at the box office so any forgeries can be identified before people get to their seats. Only the 800 people who bought in person on 12 September, when tickets went on sale, will so far hold a physical ticket from DMT. The company is writing to all 800 to alert them that they will have new tickets. None of DMT's authorised agents had tickets to send out, so are not affected. Those who purchased by telephone are only now being sent their tickets, which are from a new issue.

The company admits it will have no idea of the scale of the problem until people start arriving. It is thought unlikely counterfeiters would go to the effort of producing impressive lookalikes for only a small number.

No problems emerged in Stratford and it is thought those who bought tickets directly from the RSC are unaffected. RSC tickets look different to those of the theatre.

DMT and the RSC today joined forces to warn fans against buying from unauthorised sources. Richard Johnston, chief executive of the theatre chain owned by impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh, said: "For customers to be confident of the validity of tickets, they should always buy directly from the venue or an authorised agent, otherwise they risk being refused admission."

Paul James, of the Society of London Theatre, said those behind the counterfeiting clearly thought they could make a major profit. SOLT had never encountered such a problem before.

"It is, to my knowledge, the first time forgery has reared its head in our industry. One often gets rather shady goings-on with re-selling but for somebody to go to the bother of forging tickets is a new and worrying development," Mr James said.

Vikki Heywood, executive director of the RSC, said the company is "extremely concerned". "Our main priority is that genuine RSC ticket-buyers are protected and to this end DMT have issued new secure ticket stock. We are confident this will ensure legitimate RSC audiences get to their rightful seats."